> I'll be deeply saddened if a majority or even a substantial minority of
> six billion people choose to voluntarily die,

I'm not sure why you'd be deeply saddened by this, Eli. Your compassion is
laudable, but I worry that it is accompanied by a certain lack of empathy
and understanding for world-views very different from your own.

It doesn't really harm the overall evolution of mind in the cosmos if this
happens.
And is it *bad* for the people involved if it's their choice. I don't see
why, necessarily.

A life lived towards death is different than a life lived towards
immortality.
Each type of life has its own aesthetic integrity, in my view.

My wife does not wish to live forever -- she realizes it may well be
possible,
but her choice will be to die "naturally." If I do manage to live
essentially forever,
as I hope and mostly believe will happen, then I'll sure as fuck miss her,
but I won't feel sad for her. This is her own choice and her own method for
structuring her life and her psyche. I'm sure this aspect of her mind is
all wrapped up with many other aspects that I find quite wonderful and
delightful.

There is a oneness with nature that some people feel, which leads them to
feel
the "right" thing is to die a natural death. This same oneness with nature
makes
these same people very uncomfortable with the idea of themselves personally
uploading.

I think we should accept that there is a strong psychological and
spiritual positive to this feeling of oneness with nature, and not be
saddened
by people whose lives are governed by this feeling, rather than by the
alternate
feeling (that you and I share) that the self is mostly the mind and greater
individual
intelligence is a extremely important goal.

I am pissed by people who want to stop ME from uploading -- it's none of
their damn
business. But if some people feel themselves part and parcel of the
biosphere and prefer
to remain that way for their whole lives, even if it means losing their
consciousness
permanently and merging their cells back into the biosphere, that's cool
with me.